The art of cue sticks and shaft extensions for cue sticks consists of cue stick shafts manufactured from solid wood and graphite. These cue stick shafts and extension shafts typically provide strong frictional resistance to the player when in use and require the player to use hand powder, talcum powder, or some other external substance to reduce this friction between bridging fingers and shaft. The finishing of the wood and graphite cue stick shafts traditionally requires an extra coating step in manufacture, and is susceptible to wear, which degrades both functionality and appearance. The long-term wear and functional capabilities of graphite shafts are not known, and the use of carbon-fiber and graphite materials is expensive, while the materials are themselves fragile in some circumstances. Wooden cue stick shafts are susceptible to flaws inherent in the wood stock used, and to warping, twisting and deformation due to the nature of the materials used, which is detrimental to their usability to the player.
Previously, there have been inventions involving hollow-bodied cues, for instance Canadian Patent No. 233,389 teaches a hollow-bodied cue butt section with a removable tip section. The tip section is designed to be removed and may be placed into the hollow cue butt section for storage and transport. Canadian Patent No. 738,297 teaches a hollow-bodied cue stick wherein several segments could collapse longitudinally, telescoping within themselves, for ease of transport and storage. One draw back of this design is that a stick equal in length to the cue stick is required to be inserted within the cue stick to straighten the cue stick and to prevent the cue stick from collapsing during operation.
Canadian Patent No. 726,578 to Adler teaches a method of constructing a hollow tube for use as a billiard cue or fishing rod using fiber and resin to form a hard hollow outer layer. Stiffener rods and spring weights are then inserted into the hollow tube to alter the weight and balance of the cue, and to provide the desired flex and kick. Once the manufactured cue stick has the desired characteristics, it is filled with liquid foam, which hardens to form a one-piece balanced fiberglass cue. Additional features of the Adler invention included novel ferrules, joints, attachments of butt-bumpers and tips, and non-slip coatings. The Adler patent is limited to the construction of cue sticks and fishing rods from foam-filled, weighted and balanced, resin-impregnated glass fiber cloth, and necessary changes to fittings and fixtures. Additionally, Adler discloses a cue that may only be weighted and balanced during initial construction. Once manufactured, the cue sticks cannot be customized “in the field” at the retailer or after sale to an end-user or altered to suit an end-user's requirements or desired characteristics. Adler also does not address issues of cue shaft repair, and the materials disclosed are susceptible to damage, cracking, chipping, and wear, as well as requiring significantly different and more numerous steps in their manufacture.
Other products provide a limited number of cue sticks with adjustable weight and balance after initial manufacture. Such cue sticks employed methods of attaching weighted washers or similar devices onto the exterior of the cue stick, such as onto the existing butt end cap, or center fastener ferrules or fittings in the case of two piece cue sticks. However, the cue stick's weight was otherwise pre-determined by the materials and methods used in its initial construction. Similarly, the flex and kick characteristics of the cue sticks were determined by the materials and methods used in the cue sticks initial construction and finish.
Finally, an examination of the cues and parts and components available from major manufacturers such as Brunswick™, Champion™, Dufferin™, Heubler™, Monarch™, Macdermitt™, Harvard™, AMF™, Schmelke™, Wilson™, Spalding™, Excalibur™, Viper™, Winston™, Zodiac™ and others has disclosed a variety of cue sticks and cue stick-sections. However, the operational characteristics of such cue sticks are determined by the materials used in their construction, and do not allow post-manufacture customization by the user or by a customizer.
It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate at least some of the above-presented disadvantages.